Broken Wing
by Moonchild10
Summary: [oneshot] When a fellow Titan is wounded in battle, Robin must make the ultimate sacrifice. But how is he to know what is right and what is wrong as time inevitably runs out?


**Disclaimer: I don't own TT**

**Well, this is something I wrote back in September as part of a project I'm doing with The Gnostic. Read his stories, I demand you! **

**This is a Robin and BB friendship piece. Pretty angst, sort of raw because I didn't go back and fix things, so this is the original version. Hope you like it. (: **

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"Titans, go!" Robin's voice cut out through the sound of the rain hitting the pavement, reassuring his teammates of his presence. They had been in a steady battle for nearly an hour. His team was worn to the bone, as was Robin himself, but he refused to deny it somewhere in his mind. The team had just arranged itself again according to his last instructions. They knew their places. Robin looked around the area, pleased with the efficiency of his team even after so much strain had already been placed on them. Starfire and Cyborg were using a joint effort and wonderfully skillful teamwork to drive one large group of Slade's robot henchmen to their knees. Raven, always at her best when placed in a solo position, was taking the down the remaining group of visible robots with masterfully places clouds of black psychic energy.

Robin was surprised to see that Beast Boy had already departed to take his assigned part in the fight, and realized, with a twinge of guilt, that he was undoubtedly trying to prove himself. Robin had decided to let Beast Boy help him take down the robot soldiers attempting to flee through the forest below after the earlier events. Remembering the way Mento had been so critical of Beast Boy before, Robin had realized with a bit of shame that it reminded him of his usual attitude toward the changeling. In an attempt to make up for his past behaviors, Robin was attempting to make Beast Boy feel more important now than ever. And Beast Boy seemed in a sweat to prove that this choice Robin had made was a smart one, because he was gone before Robin himself.

Robin took off at a run, shaking rainwater from his bangs, plastered to his forehead. He reached the ridge of the drop-off that led down into the woodland area below, as squinted into the skies for some small green speck that would signify BB's position. That telltale speck showed itself soon, Robin could see it gracefully bobbing and dipping, blurred slightly through the slanting raindrops. The green speck came closer, and Robin could see it go in close to the ground. Beast Boy was taunting the robots, bringing them in close to the ridge for Robin's first attack. Robin smiled at the quick thinking of his teammate and whipped out his bo staff, hand ready to reach for a bird-a-rang from his utility belt, poised to leap forward into battle at the very moment Beast Boy gave a signal.

The air was gray and colorless, save for the bright green eagle that swooped and taunted and danced artfully through the cold raindrops. And then suddenly the sky was also colored with crimson. Robin's eyes widened and for a moment he chose not to comprehend the situation, until the green eagle morphed into a green teenager in midair and began a fast, unforgiving descent. Robin was halfway down the muddy ridge by the time Beast Boy hit the damp, muddy ground with a dull thud. The clumps of mud sliding from under Robin's boots, it took longer than normal to reach the bottom of the slope, and by that time he was cursing heavily under his breath.

Slade soldiers had mysteriously disappeared from the forest, taking the information they had gathered which could be potentially damaging to the Titans' strategies for the future back to their master. But this was the least important thing at the moment.

Beast Boy was about ten feet from the bottom of the slope, lying in the mud, the rain washing the crimson streaks across his uniform and into the rich brown dirt. Though Robin was trained expertly to deal with this kind of situation, he couldn't help the pounding of his heart in his throat as he dropped to his knees in the mud beside his fallen teammate. The wound was bad, horribly bad, sickeningly, piercingly, inescapably bad. There was virtually a chasm sliced through the green boy's torso. Robin could see something glinting silver through all the dark crimson blur that was flesh and muscle and blood and more flesh, curling and leaking around each other to become a confusing labyrinth.

"Beast Boy, can you hear me?" Robin asked, loudly enough to be just above normal volume.

Beast Boy gave a wet, gurgling moan in reply, hand brushing limply over his wound and making him flinch. "Dude….ugh…." he muttered, giving a shudder.

Robin leaned forward, poking into the wound a bit and it became clear that the silver glint was one of Slade's 'S' shaped blades, fashioned into the shape of his sign. His mind did some leaping around, quick, messy calculations, and it told him the worst. That blade was in all the way, and given its size and therefore how deep it was in his friend's abdomen, he knew instantly that BB was not going to make it through this.

"I'm not gonna live, am I?" Beast Boy asked, melancholy, knowing, wise beyond his age.

Robin, deciding it was better to tell BB of his fate that to gloss over it with lies, shook his head. Beast Boy nodded. BB was being surprisingly mature about this whole thing, and Robin was slightly impressed at the way BB was handling it.

Thoughts went through his head. Raven? No, her powers weren't strong enough to heal such a deep wound. Medical help? No, there was no way he would live long enough to await paramedics. Take him back to the Tower? No, not enough time.

"Ugh….it hurts," Beast Boy moaned, pure and unrestrained agony dripping from every rocky syllable. Robin could see the beginnings of tears glistening in the corners of his friend's eyes.

A grim solution began to form in Robin's head. It stung him badly to see Beast Boy hurting like this, lying here in the mud and bloody rain, fighting back tears of pain, trying so hard to keep strong. It would be horrible, it would be as good as murder. It would be the hardest thing Robin would ever have forced himself to do. His conscience tore him back and forth across the moral dilemma. _'he's hurt, he doesn't want to hurt. IT'S MURDER. It's helping!'_ Robin looked down at Beast Boy, whose tears were now leaking down his face, unable to be held back.

"It hurts so bad, Robin," Beast Boy whispered through clenched teeth, clamping a fist tightly onto Robin's arm. "Ugh…it hurts…"

Robin took a deep breath. "Do you want me to make it stop?" he asked. "To make it over now instead of having to wait? I hate seeing you…hurt like this."

Beast Boy nodded. "I don't want to lay here waiting to die anymore, Robin," he said softly, a look of childlike fear coming through the large green eyes at the thought of death. Robin nodded.

"Beast Boy…before I do this…I just want you to know that you were always more valuable to this team than you'll ever know. As a teammate and….as a friend, though I've underestimated and under appreciated you in the past." Robin tried to cut it short, so he could help BB stop hurting sooner, though he ached with what he knew what was about to be done. "I'm sorry I was never as nice as I could have been, but I know now just how much you matter, to all of us."

Beast Boy nodded and managed a smile through his tears. "Tell everybody I said goodbye, and that I love them and that I'll miss them."

"I will. Are you sure you want me to do this, though?"

"Yeah. It's better than waiting, and it hurts so bad…I can't stand it."

Robin nodded, putting one hand on each side of Beast Boy's head. BB squeezed Robin's arm tighter.

"Goodbye, Beast Boy. We won't forget you," he said.

"Bye," BB managed to squeak. Robin took one last look down into the large, animal eyes of his friend, filled with the remnants of childhood's innocence still showing through, with the knowledge and triumphs and pain of a life cut short too soon, and Robin felt the wrenching pain of missing his friend even before he was gone cut through him. He longed suddenly to just give BB a hug before he was gone, just one last opportunity to show friendship, but he knew it might make it harder. He settled for rubbing a fatherly hand over the emerald hair and giving a rather pained smile.

"I'll miss you," he told the changeling honestly. And then the green eyes clamped shut, a shiver went through his body, and he was still, waiting, ready. Robin gave a deep breath, trying to ignore the sadness that pulsated in his throat and chest, and wrenched both hands to the left. There was a sickening, dry crack as Beast Boy's neck snapped, and the tight hand that had held Robin's arm slackened and dropped into the mud.

Robin sat there for a moment feeling the rain wash down his face, cold, clarifying. And he stared down into the now expressionless face of Beast Boy. And then he lifted the limp body in his arms and began the long, endless journey back up the slope, trying to imagine Beast Boy soaring around somewhere in the clouds. Robin never was sure if he believed in the afterlife, but it was certainly better than imagining there was nothing else at all.

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